African wooden carving of man in chains / slave

Picked this carving up this evening. . 15 1/2" (39cm) tall. There is some glue residue on the base from an old piece of felt that I removed. My pics make it look substantially glossier/shinier than it is in person because of the bright lights i placed around it.

Assuming the wood is a type of African ebony?

I found a few similar carvings online:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Early-20th...Slave-Man-Chains-Shackles-1900s-/192793762825

https://www.loveantiques.com/miscellaneous/tribal/rare-african-slave-in-chains-carving-c1800-111700

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/black-hardwood-hand-carved-african-1828538962

All the same basic form, posture, placement of chains, etc.... Is this a common form of carving for the tourist trade? Does it come from a particular area and/or people? Also Thanks again for looking!

 

not a wood I'm familiar with...
not a carving I've seen....
not a tourist item I'd want to be seen with...

 

I agree, ... Joy.

 

For me the links are very interesting to show that everybody can try to sold about everything for so many $ than somebody can think it worth that…
The wood is coming from a near certainly endangered specie, made for tourist having some culpability about slavery and thinking they can have some good stars at the end if they give money for that sculpture to an african guy, the last words by komokwa are exactly the right thing to say.
Sometimes I buy those items for 2-5$ just to make something nice with the wood.
And it has no more than 20 years in my opinion then it shock me about the slavery question.

 

And the extremely sad thing is, there is still large scale slavery in parts of Africa, as there has been for thousands of years.

 

Ebony usually has a dark heartwood, and lighter colored sapwood. The speckled/streaked appearance of this wood is unusual. It may be Dalbergia melanoxylon - "African blackwood" (which is not an ebony, but often mistaken for it).


The CITES description says in rare cases it occurs with streaks of dark and light wood, particularly in timber from Mozambique. https://www.delta-intkey.com/citeswood/en/www/fabdamel.htm
This would be consistent with the carving being made by a Makonde carver.
It is supposed to be a protected wood species.

 

My purchase was more of a curiosity than anything as I had never seen this depiction in a carving before, and was wondering if it was typical to see these marketed at tourists or if it was more of a traditional image. Not that it is pleasant to look at or think about. Also was curious about the wood. I didn't pay much and won't resell.

 

That's fair enough.
The wood , would have drawn me to it ... just cuz I love wood !
But , selling it to someone who would enjoy owning it....is not a crime.
Only, with all the stank goin on down in Virginia......I'd sell it on the down low.

 

I'm certainly shaking my head daily at the circus our state government has become. I'm a native Virginian, and love my state, but it's all just very shameful.

 

Yes , it's a bad circus, at the wrong time.
I'm glad I'm not someone in a public position....who's faults & actions of 30 to 40 years ago could be dredged up and used against the man I am now !!!!

 

Hi,
When I was in second grade I went as Aunt Jemima on Halloween. I am glad that I am not a politician or I would have to kill off 20 some people to run for office.
greg

 

This is a good manner to take this item.
In the past I've studied and after that wrote about slavery with the trade of some material used for the return of the ships to europe, slavery in africa as in certain asian country is millennial as said before, there is an interesting particularity to give as a precision in the discussion, as many other representations, african people don't show this aspect in their traditions, they can show slaves as the egyptians made for certain ceremonies for example(related to this page), but never like that which is a Judaeo-christian point of view of the slaves themselves.
And as all afro-american works of art made politically or not against slavery have to be considered with respect and preserved, those items sold on the web for such prices and with those fantasist descriptions are just indecent.